Designing a circular built environment

How can smart urban design drive the transition to a circular built environment? Find out in this session led by Deakin University Professor Tuba Kocaturk.

The circular economy is a design proposition and what bigger design project than the built environment — our human-made surroundings, encompassing everything from roads and transport networks to green spaces and water systems. Redesigning the built environment requires a deep understanding of how all aspects of human-made landscapes interact and an unprecedented collaboration effort across sectors. 

This 60-minute session will explore the role of design in transforming the way we build and use space. The event will be led by Tuba Kocaturk, Professor of Integral Design and Founding Director of the MInD (Mediated Intelligence in Design) Research Lab at Deakin University's School of Architecture and Built Environment. Professor Kocaturk will introduce the relatively new concept of design-led innovation and be joined by Jo-Ann Kellock, CEO of the Design Institute of Australia, and John Gertsakis, Director of the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence run by the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures.   

Located in Geelong, Victoria, Deakin University is home to one of the nation's largest circular economy research efforts, with experts from an array of disciplines coming together to develop circular technologies and materials. As part of this research, the university’s Architecture and Built Environment department recently released a report entitled 'The Circular Economy in the Australian Built Environment: The State of Play and a Research Agenda', which was co-authored by Professor Kocaturk.  

The session is designed for those who work in the built environment, researchers of any discipline or anyone with an interest in how humans design the world around them. It will cover:  

• The principles of design thinking and how they can be applied to the circular economy. 
• Education and research models and opportunities, with reference to international case studies of government implementation in Asia and Europe.  
• Insights from other sectors and examples of effective cross-sector collaboration.  
• Opportunities for innovation in the built environment.  

More on the speakers: 

Tuba Kocaturk  

Tuba Kocaturk is Professor of Integral Design and the founding Director of MInD Research Lab at the School of Architecture and Built Environment at Deakin. She is also the founding co-Director of DesignMind, Deakin University's design and innovation platform, and is currently representing the University on Geelong's UNESCO City of Design committee.  Professor Kocaturk is a registered architect and holds a PhD degree in Architecture and Building Technology from Delft University of Technology. She held various academic appointments and fellowships in Turkey, the Netherlands, United States and in the UK before joining Deakin in 2018. Professor Kocaturk's research and teaching centre on the intersection of design, innovation, information technologies and built environment. She has published extensively in the fields of digital heritage, digital place-making, transdisciplinary design, smart urban ecosystems and ambient intelligence.

Jo-Ann Kellock 

Jo-Ann Kellock is CEO of the Design Institute of Australia. With a background in fashion and textiles, she is strong advocate for the designer's role in the circular economy. Her knowledge of the clothing and textile supply chain combined with her recent leadership of designers working in interior, product, communication and textile design have given her a unique perspective on building effective transdisciplinary teams. 

John Gertsakis 

John is a sustainability and communications practitioner across diverse industries with a focus on product stewardship, circularity and extended producer responsibility. He is a Director of the Australian Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence, an Adjunct Professor with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS and Co-Founder of the Ewaste Watch Institute. John's policy, stewardship and design project engagements cover appliances, electronics, office furniture, floor coverings, textiles and plastic products used in the healthcare sector.  

Register at the link above to secure your ticket and be part of the conversation. 

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This program has been made possible thanks to grant funding from the Australian Government and our valued sponsors BINGO Industries, KeepCup and Planet Ark Power.